WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii -- 2014 was a year of Enlisted Voluntary Early Separations for Soldiers, new Officer Evaluation Reports and an increased emphasis on SHARP, or Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention (including its new telephone hotline).
Additionally, preventing suicide, substance abuse and safety violations were emphasized throughout U.S. Army-Hawaii.
But the biggest news, by far, was that the Department of Defense would see more cuts in military spending, troop strength and force structure in coming years.
"If we don't move toward a sounder way to steward our nation's defense, we face unbalanced cuts to readiness and modernization," said Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in March.
Many received awards; among them, the director of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation, Michael Amarosa, received the Installation Management Command Stalwart Award for leadership in January.
Also in January, the Army released public service announcements on the Gold Star program, beginning in the Super Bowl. The program supports mothers and families who have lost a service member.
Tripler Army Medical Center began enforcing a smoke-free campus in January, too, and in February, a policy was released prohibiting use of e-cigarettes in all installation work areas.
As the Army Emergency Relief fundraising campaign began in March and the Best Warrior competitions were in full force at units, Jane Beachy earned the title of "Oahu MVP 2014" for her work overseeing the Army's continued environmental monitoring and control efforts to prevent the spread of devil weed and more.
In late March, work began on possible Area Development Plans for USARHAW installations by a team of Garrison and installation stakeholders.
"They came up with some suggestions (for Fort DeRussy) that the City of Honolulu thought were really good, as well as the representatives from the Army who were in attendance," said Mark Mitsunaga, master planner, Planning Division, Directorate of Public Works, USAG-HI.
March 31, the Army tightened its policy on tattoos, the uniform and hair standards. Then, April 5th was designated as "Gold Star Wives Day," continuing efforts to honor families of the fallen.
Island Palm Communities, which provides property management for Hawaii's Army family housing, was named the SatisFacts National Award Winner for excellence in resident satisfaction.
"To hear we're ranked high among our peers in the industry confirms we are doing a great job supporting our residents," said Tom Adams, IPC's director of property management.
On April 9, Lt. Gen. David Halverson took command of IMCOM, and shortly afterwards, Garrison received the 2014 Army Community of Excellence Gold Medal award as the top installation in the Army.
"The award reflects how USAG-HI consistently excelled at providing base operations, training support and quality of life services," said Halverson.
The Garrison was also recognized by the Historic Hawaii Foundation for historic preservation. Then, in May DFMWR earned the 2014 Family and MWR Exemplary Workforce Development Award from the Installation Management Academy.
The Garrison welcomed Col. Richard A. Fromm as its commander, May 13th.
Soldier for Life, which encompasses the entire lifecycle of being a Soldier, replaced the Army Career and Alumni Program, and the Army opened up new career fields to women in late May.
On June 13th, Lt. Col. Jacob Peterson took command of U.S. Army Garrison-Pohakuloa.
Then, over the summer, the Army sought public comments on a Makua Military Reservation survey, and soon, public comments on the Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment, or SPEA, until Aug. 25.
In early August, the garrison responded to the threat of Hurricane Iselle.
Aug. 5th, the installation welcomed Command Sgt. Maj. Louis Felicioni as the senior enlisted adviser.
Before the year ended, Soldiers and families were urged to complete federal survey cards, make revisions to tattoo and hair policies, adopt a new camouflage uniform and contribute to the annual Combined Federal Campaign.
By Dec. 11, the senior commander, Maj. Gen. Charles Flynn, officially announced the new USARHAW campaign, "Don't Be a By-STANDer, Take A STAND!" which increases awareness of substance abuse, sexual assault, suicide prevention and safety violations.
USAG-HI looks forward to meeting the challenges that will come along in 2015.
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